GB crowned European Veterans Champions

14th June 2011

14th June 2011
A record entry of 1300 fencers took part in the European Veterans Championships hosted by the French Veterans Fencers Association in Henin-Beaumont, near Lille, last week.

Every major European country fielded their largest contingent of fencers ever for this competition, and Great Britain was no exception with 153 weapon entries across all categories. The French alone, on home territory, fielded 347 weapon entries.

The competition promised to be very fierce with the usual high numbers of ex-Olympians and Champions from every country with many defending their European Veterans titles from when the competition was last held in Hungary two years ago.

The competition was split into Categories 1 – 4 in each discipline, and the highlights of the event for Great Britain are as follows:

Great Britain ended the Championships at the top of the medal table, with Italy and Russia not far behind. A special presentation was made to Janet Cooksey, who had won through to compete in three finals, and she was presented with a fencing statuette to mark her remarkable achievement.

The Championships produced an excellent result for Great Britain, and the large squad fought well to ensure the top place for GB in the tables.